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DIAZ 


,  e>  A’A 

V 


THE  GOSPEL  IN  CUBA 


THE 


STORY  OF  DIAZ 


A  Marvel  of  Modern  Missions 


GEORGE  WILLIAM  LASHER,  D.  D. 


CINCINNATI 
GEO.  E.  STEVENS 


1893. 


Copyright,  1893, 
by  George  William  Lasher. 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


TO 


WILLIAM  J.  NORTHEN,  L.L.  D., 

THE  CONSCIENTIOUS  EDUCATOR, 

THE  INTELLIGENT  AGRICULTURIST, 
THE  CHRISTIAN  GOVERNOR, 

Gbls  Sfcetcb  of  tbe  Bpostle  of  Cuba 
is  IRespectfullE  DeOlcateO, 

IN  MEMORY  OF  DELIGHTFUL  ASSOCIATIONS 


ENJOYED  DURING  A  TRIP  TO 
“THE  QUEEN  OF  THE  ANTILLES, 
IN  1893. 


“The  sons  also  of  them  that  afflicted  thee  shall  come 
bending  unto  thee;  and  all  they  that  despised  thee  shall 
bow  themselves  down  at  the  soles  of  thy  feet;  and  they 
shall  call  thee  The  city  of  the  Lord,  The  Zion  of  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel.”  Isaiah ,  lx.,  14. 

“He  shall  not  fail  nor  be  discouraged,  till  he  have  set 
judgment  in  the  earth;  and  the  isles  shall  wait  for  his 
law.”  Isaiah ,  xlii. ,  4. 


MAP  OF  CUBA. 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION. 

Alberto  Jose  Diaz  was  born  in  1852,  the 
oldest  of  twenty-four  children  born  to  one 
mother,  who  was  married  at  the  age  of 
twelve  years,  and  is  now  in  good  health,  a 
most  valuable  and  hearty  coadjutor  of  her  son 
and  the  other  members  of  her  family.  His 
father  was  a  pharmaceutist,  living  in  Guana- 
bacoa,  a  town  of  some  17,000  inhabitants, 
just  across  the  bay  to  the  eastward  of  Hav¬ 
ana.  After  a  good  education  in  the  schools  of 
his  native  town,  Alberto  became  a  student  in 
the  University  of  Havana;  he,  after  graduat¬ 
ing,  studied  medicine  in  the  same  city,  and, 
in  due  time,  was  admitted  to  practice  as  a 
physician.  Though  his  father  was  not  rich, 
the  education  of  the  son  was  accomplished  at 
a  cost  of  $9,000,  continuing  through  twelve 
years. 


(5) 


6 


THE  STORY  OF  J)IAZ. 


A  PATRIOT. 

Not  long  after  his  graduation  and  admit¬ 
tance  to  the  practice  of  medicine,  a  rebellion 
against  the  tyrannous  rule  of  the  Spaniards 
broke  out,  and  patriotism  sent  the  young 
doctor  to  the  camp  of  the  rebels.  He  was 
made  a  captain  of  cavalry,  and  was  soon  in 
the  field,  helping  to  break  the  Spanish  yoke 
which  had  become  intolerable,  but  which  was 
more  closely  bound  upon  the  necks  of  the 
Cubans  than  they  had  supposed.  Perhaps 
their  own  method  of  fastening  the  yoke  upon 
their  oxen  may  be  the  best  illustration  of  the 
binding  of  the  Spanish  yoke  upon  the  necks 
of  the  Cubans.  The  yoke  of  the  ox  is  not 
fitted  to  his  neck,  but  to  his  head,  just  back 
of  and  over  his  horns,  and  the  fastening  is 
with  ropes  so  wound  about  the  horns,  and  re¬ 
inforced  by  a  ring  in  the  nose  (from  which  a 
rope  passes  over  the  head),  that  the  creature 
is  utterly  helpless.  Pie  can  not  move  his 
head  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  any  direction, 
save  up  and  down,  and  the  weight  of  the 
burden  upon  the  yoke  bows  the  Hose  to  with¬ 
in  three  or  four  inches  of  the  ground.  A  more 
pitiable  sight  is  rarely  met  with  than  a  yoke 
of  Cuban  oxen  attached  to  one  of  their  huge 


AT  SEA  ON  A  LOG. 


7 


and  ungainly  carts.  But  the  yoke  of  Spain  is 
no  less  grievous  than  is  that  ox-yoke.  Twenty 
thousand  soldiers  are  quartered  on  the  people, 
and  the  expense  of  supporting  them,  together 
with  the. other  revenues  required  by  Spain, 
imposes  a  tax  of  $27,000,000  annually  upon 
one  and  a  half  million  of  people.  What 
wonder  that  Cubans  are  restive?  What  won¬ 
der  that  they  are,  as  they  have  been  for  many 
generations,  ready  to  seize  every  opportunity 
which  gives  any  hope  of  success  in  rebellion? 
And  so  it  was  that  the  young  Cuban  physi¬ 
cian  found  himself  among  the  patriots  of  his 
native  island,  trying  to  drive  out  the 
Spaniards.  v 

AT  SEA  ON  A  LOG. 

One  afternoon,  while  he  was  on  duty,  he 
was  sent  ahead  of  his  command,  with  a  com¬ 
panion,  to  find  a*suitable  spot  for  an  encamp¬ 
ment.  While  thus  engaged,  the  two  men 
were  cut  out  by  Spanish  troopers,  and  found 
themselves  in  danger  of  immediate  capture, 
or  death.  They  rode  their  horses  hurriedly 
into  a  thicket,  and,  springing  from  their 
saddles,  plied  the  whip  to  the  lodosene  ani¬ 
mals,  driving  them  out  of  reach,  in  hope  that 


8 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


the  Spaniards  would  go  after  the  horses  and 
forget  the  riders.  They  were  on  a  point  of 
land  running  out  into  the  sea  on  the  southern 
coast.  Instead  of  following  the  horses,  the 
Spaniards  chose  to  find  the  men,  if  possible; 
but,  as  the  shades  of  night  were  gathering 
around  them,  they  determined  to  encamp  and 
keep  the  rebels  on  the  point  all  night,  and 
then  take  them  in  the  morning.  The  young 
men  had  seen^enough  of  Spanish  treatment  of 
prisoners  to  know  that  their  lives  were  worth 
but  little^to  them,  if  they  were  caught.  So, 
during  the  night,  they  procured  a  plank,  and, 
knowing  that  a  current  was  sweeping  along 
the  coast,  they  thought  to  get  into  it  and 
thus  be  borne  be}7ond  the  Spanish  lines  to  a 
place  where  they  might  land  in  safety.  But 
when  morning  came  they  were  far  out  of 
reach  of  land, "and  unable  to  reach  the  shore. 

IN  A  STRANGE  CITY. 

It  was  a  very  sorry  prospect  that  opened 
to  them,  when  the  sun  came  up  and  its  rays 
beat  down  upon  them.  No  food,  no  water 
for  their  thirst,  no  possibility  of  reaching 
shore.  Soon  they  were  seized  with  cramps; 
one  of  them  fell  off  the  plank  and  was 


IN  A  STRANGE  CITY. 


9 


drowned  ;  Diaz  became  unconscious,  and  in 
that  condition  was  picked  up  by  a  fishing- 
boat,  and  was,  soon  after,  placed  upon  a  vessel 
bound  for  New  York  where,  in  due  time,  he 
arrived,  a  stranger  and  penniless,  in  a  great 
city.  He  had  some  knowledge  of  the  cigar 
business,  and,  if  he  could  not  make  cigars,  he 
could  find  fellow-country-men  in  the  cigar 
shops.  These  he  sought,  and  soon  he  had 
made  an  engagement  to  become  the  reader  for 
the  shop.  The  custom  in  the  cigar  shop,  since 
the  work  is  of  a  quiet  character,  is  to  fix  up 
an  elevated  seat  and  employ  some  one  who 
can  read  well  to  sit  up  there  and  read  to  the 
workman  while  they  ply  their  trade.  In 
this  way 

the  day,  but  often  to  novels  of  a  not  very 
pure  character,  and  to  books  of  a  far  from  . 
elevating  tone.  But  it  is  a  pastime,  to  listen 
while  they  work.  Diaz  was  a  reader,  and 
thus  he  got  his  living,  while,  in  his  odd  hours, 
he  thought  to  perfect  his  knowledge  of  med¬ 
icine,  giving  special  attention  to  the  treat¬ 
ment  of  the  eye.  He  went  to  a  medical  school 
where  the  eye  was  specially  treated,  and  put 
himself  under  the  instruction  of  a  physician 
whom  he  came  to  regard  highly,  and  who 


they  listen  not  only  to  the  news  of 


10 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


4  ' 

also  became  interested  in  his  pupil.  But 
he  could  speak  almost  no  word  of  English, 
though  he  had  learned  to  read  it  a  little. 

SICK  UNTO  DEATH. 

Meantime,  he  had  found  a  boarding  place 
in  Brooklyn,  where  were  also  several  other 
boarders,  strangers  to  him,  none  of  them  able 
to  converse  with  him.  Not  long  after  becom¬ 
ing  settled  in  his  boarding  house,  he  was 
attacked  with  pneumonia;  and  soon  after  the 
physician  pronounced  it  a  bad  case,  and  gave 
the  opinion  that  it  would  prove  fatal.  One 
morning  the  keeper  of  the  boarding  house 
came  to  the  table  and  said  to  her  boarders: 
“That  young  Cuban  whom  you  have  seen 
here  at  the  table  is  going  to  die.  He  has 
pneumonia,  and  the  doctor  gives  no  hope  of 
his  recovery.”  Among  those  who  listened  to 
the  announcement  was  Miss  Alice  Tucker,  a 
Christian  young  woman,  whose  heart  was 
touched,  and  whose  thought  went  immedi¬ 
ately  out  in  behalf  of  his  soul.  She  could 
not  allow  that  young  man  to  die  under  the 
same  roof  with  herself,  a  stranger  in  a  strange 
city,  and  not  do  something  for  the  salvation 
of  his  soul. 


A  NEW  THOUGHT. 


11 


But  what  could  she  do?  She  could  not 
speak  his  language,  and  he  could  not  under¬ 
stand  hers.  This  she  could  do  and  would  do; 
she  could  take  her  Testament  and  go  up  to 
his  room  and  there  pray  for  him.  Possibly 
God  would  use  something  she  -might  do  for 
the  salvation  of  the  sick  man.  She  took  a 
little  red-covered  Testament  and  went  up  to 
his  room  and  sat  down  by  his  bedside.  She 
opened  the  Testament  and  read  aloud  several 
passages  of  Scripture;  and  then,  putting  her 
hand  over  her  eyes,  she  prayed  with  silent 
but  moving  lips  for  a  divine  blessing  upon 
the  truth  and  upon  the  sufferer.  He  looked 
at  her  in  amazement.  Why  did  she  read 
from  that  little  book?  Why  did  she  seem  to 
talk  to  herself?  He  was  able  to  write  a  few 
words  which  he  could  not  pronounce.  He 
wrote  on  a  slip  of  paper:  “What  is  that  book 
which  you  are  reading?”  She  wrote  in  reply: 
“The  New  Testament  —  Bible.”  He  wrote 
again:  “What  makes  you  talk  to  yourself?” 
She  wrote  in  reply:  “I  am  praying  for  you.” 

A  NEW  THOUGHT. 

It  was  a  new  thought  to  him.  He  was 
familiar  with  the  ways  of  the  priests  of  Rome, 


12 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


the  confessional,  the  masses,  etc.;  but  that 
any  one  should  pra}T  thus,  apart  from  a  cruci¬ 
fix,  apart  from  a  priest,  apart  from  a  church; 
and  that  a  young  woman  should  pray  for 
him — what  did  it  mean?  He  had  thought 
that  she  was  crazy,  and  therefore  was  talking 
to  herself.  Now  he  was  hardly  more  enlight¬ 
ened  as  to  her  object.  But  he  was  not  there 
to  die.  He  began  to  mend,  and  soon  he  was 
able  to  go  back  to  his  companions  and  to  his 
preceptor  in  the  medical  school.  To  these 
he  began  to  tell  the  story  of  his  sickness,  and 
of  the  conduct  of  the  young  woman.  He 
had  asked  her  for  the  little  book,  and  here  it 
was.  It  was  the  New  Testament  in  English. 
He  had  turned  its  pages  with  the  deepest 
interest,  but  could  make  very  little  out  of  it. 
He  spelled  out  words  and  then  tried  to  turn 
them  into  Spanish,  if  perchanee  he  might 
understand  them  better  thus.  He  could  make 
but  little  progress;  but  one  said  to  him: 
“Why,  you  can  get  just  such  a  book  as  that 
in  Spanish,  by  going  up  to  the  Bible  House 
at  Ninth  street  and  Fourth  avenue.”  Could 
he?  Well,  then  he  would  have  one  ;  and 
soon  he  had  it.  But  he  kept  the  little  red 
Testament  in  English,  and  treasures  it  as 


A  BLIND  SINNER. 


13 


a  memento  of  the  days  of  his  blindness, 
when  the  grace  of  God  was  vouchsafed  to  him. 

Diaz  and  his  Testament  became  constant 
companions.  He  studied  it  with  an  ardent 
desire  to  know  its  contents.  Especially  was 
he  interested  in  the  narratives  of  the  miracles 
of  our  Lord.  When  he  came  to  that  of  the 
blind  man  whose  eyes  were  anointed  with  the 
clay,  he  wTas  especially  affected  by  the  exhibi- 
tion  of  power.  He  himself  was  studying  the 
eve,  and  how  to  cure  blindness  was  a  matter 
of  the  deepest  interest  to  him.  But  here  was 
a  man  who  could  cure  blindness  by  a  means 
which,  in  the  hands  of  an  ordinary  practi¬ 
tioner,  would  rather  injure  the  eye  than  cure 
its  blindness.  He  talked  with  his  preceptor  in 
the  medical  college,  a  Christian  man,  an  elder 
in  a  Presbyterian  Church;  but,  both  because 
of  the  language  and  because  of  the  nature  of 
’  the  subject,  he  could  get  but  little  help.  His 
teacher  Avas  interested  in  him  and  tried  to 
help  him  into  the  truth;  but  without  success. 

A  BLIND  SINNER. 

One  day  he  came  to  the  story  of  the  heal¬ 
ing  of  Bartimeus,  at  Jericho.  Here  was  an¬ 
other  wonderful  display  of  power  to  give 


14 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


sight  to  the  blind.  When  Bartimeus  had 
been  admonished  to  hold  his  peace,  he  cried 
yet  the  more;  and  when  Jesus  stood  still  and 
commanded  him  to  be  called,  the  blind  man 
hasted,  cast  away  his  garment  and  came  to 
Jesus.  It  was  this  passage  which  was  blessed 
to  the  conviction  of  the  sinner.  As  Diaz  read 
it,  he  was  moved  by  the  thought — “I  too  am 
a  blind  man;  and  what  is  distressing  about 
it  is  that  1  can  not  see  him  who  is  able  to  heal 
me.”  Thus,  for  the  first  time,  he  came  to  see 
himself  a  blind  sinner  in  need  of  salvation. 
Standing  face  to  face  with  the  story  of  Barti¬ 
meus,  he  learned  that  he  was  helpless,  unable 
to  save  himself,  unable  to  see  Him  who  could 
save  him  Then  he  began  to  pray;  to  seek 
salvation.  It  was  a  new  way,  and  no  one  was 
able  to  help  him  in  it.  How  long  he  groped 
along  that  rugged,  treacherous  path  we  have 
not  been  told  ;  and  it  is  doubtful  if  he  him-  • 
self  knows.  He  talked  with  his  teacher  in 
the  college,  but  he  got  little  good,  though  he 
got  sympathy.  All  we  know  and  all  that  he 
knows  is  that  he  finally  came  into  the  light, 
and  could  say,  as  he  has  been  ever  since  able 
to  say  :  “  Whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see.” 

He  came  to  see  that  Jesus  is  “the  Light  of 


RETURNS  TO  CUBA. 


15 


the  world/’  and  that  he  who  believes  in 
Jesus  doth  not  walk  in  darkness,  but  enjoys 
the  light  of  life.  Immediately  he  began  to 
feel  an  ardent  desire  for  the  salvation  of  his 
fellows,  and  soon  was  trying  to  tell  them 
what  he  had  found  in  Christ  Jesus.  He  had 
attended  no  church,  had  listened  to  no  ser¬ 
mon,  to  no  preacher.  He  knew  nothing 
about  Protestant  denominations.  He  was  a 
stranger  in  the  great  cities  ;  but  he  knew  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  With  Him  he  came  to  be 
on  terms  of  intimate  friendship.  His  fellows 
were  interested,  so  far  that  they  would  listen 
to  him;  but  we  do  not  know  that  any  of  them 
came  to  see  Jesus  as  he  saw  him. 

RETURNS  TO  CUBA. 

After  a  time,  the  rebellion  having  been  en¬ 
tirely  put  down,  it  seemed  good  to  Spain  to 
declare  amnesty  to  those  who  had  not  been 
made  prisoners,  especially  to  those  who  had 
fled  their  country  ;  and  it  seemed  good  to 
Diaz  to  return  to  Havana  and  engage  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  but  especially  to 
carry  to  his  former  friends  the  gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God  which  he  had  come  to  rejoice 
in.  He  went,  and  soon  had  a  considerable 


16 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


practice.  He  went  to  bis  old  friends  of  the 
University  and  the  medical  school,  and  be- 
gan  to  tell  them  about  the  way  of  life  as  set, 
forth  in  the  New  Testament.  He  carried  the 
same  gospel  to  the  sick,  his  patients.  He 
treated  them  for  ailments  of  the  body  and 
ailments  of  the  soul  at  the  same  time.  But 
lie  had  not  been  long  engaged  thus  when 
his  practice  all  at  once  left  him.  He  had 
no  patients.  And  he  soon  learned  that  the 
priests  had  got  on  his  track.  They  had 
learned  what  he  was  doing  among  the  sick, 
and  they  told  the  people  that  they  were  com¬ 
mitting  a  great  sin  and  imperilling  their 
souls  by  having  that  man  treat  them.  He 
was  a  heretic,  and  if  they  did  not  cease  to 
receive  his  visits  they  need  not  expect  Chris¬ 
tian  burial.  What  could  he  do?  He  was 
utterly  helpless.  He  would  go  back  to  New 
York  and  see  what  he  could  do  there.  Per¬ 
haps  the  way  would  open  for  him  to  become 
useful  in  some  other  way. 

AGAIN  IN  BROOKLYN. 

He  went  to  New  York,  to  Brooklyn.  His 
father,  finding  his  position  uncomfortable, 
though  the  rebellion  had  been  quelled,  came 


AGAIN  IN  BROOKLYN. 


17 


also  to  New  York,  with  his  entire  family, 
thinking  to  make  it  his  home,  and  found  a 
place  of  abode  in  Brooklyn,  not  far  from 
the  Gethsemane  Baptist  church,  Willoughby 
Avenue.  The  Sabbath-school  of  that  Church 
was  active,  and  before  long  the  sisters,  one 
in  her  teens,  the  other  much  younger,  were 
induced  and  permitted  to  attend  the  school. 
There  they  came  under  the  influence  of  faith¬ 
ful  teachers,  and,  though  they  could  under¬ 
stand  the  language  very  imperfectly,  yet 
they  soon  began  to  get  ideas,  and  these  began 
to  take  root  in  their  hearts.  They  loved  the 
Sabbath-school,  and  saw  that  there  was  some¬ 
thing  taught  there  which  they  had  never 
dreamed  of  before;  something  which  was  of 
vital  interest  to  them.  The  older,  Minnie, 
became  so  much  attached  to  the  school  and 
to  her  teacher  that  she  could  not  be  kept  away. 
She  talked  with  her  brother,  and  began  to 
catch  ideas  from  him.  Soon  after,  the  health 
of  the  mother  demanded  that  they  return  to 
Cuba.  It  was  arranged  that  the  two  girls 
should  remain  with  Alberto,  for  a  time,  and 
the  father  consented  to  the  arrangement  “on 
one  condition. ”  He  said  to  his  son:  “Alberto, 
we  will  leave  the  girls  with  you  here,  on  one 


18 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


condition:  you  must  not  try  to  make  a  Prot¬ 
estant  of  Minnie. ”  Alberto  readily  prom¬ 
ised;  ‘‘for/’  says  he,  “I  knew  that  Minnie  had 
got  so  far  along  on  the  road  to  Protestantism 
that  she  did  not  need  me  to  persuade  her. 
She  could  not  be  stopped.”  So  the  parents 
went  back  to  Cuba. 

BAPTIZED. 

After  the  parents  had  gone,  leaving  the 
daughters  behind  with  their  brother,  he  and 
Minnie  went,  one  night,  up  to  the  Calvary 
Baptist  church,  in  New  York,  where  they 
witnessed  a  baptism  performed  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  MacArthur.  As  they  looked  and  saw 
what  was  done,  Minnie  turned  to  her  brother 
and  said:  “Alberto,  that  is  just  what  it  says 
in  that  little  book,  the  Testament.”  And 
they  agreed  that  it  was  so.  The  baptism 
was  according  to  their  understanding  of  what 
they  read  in  the  New  Testament.  They 
needed  no  argument,  no  explanation,  to  en¬ 
able  them  to  understand  that.  Not  long  after, 
Minnie,  having  attracted  the  attention  of  her 
teacher,  and  having  come  to  give  evidence  of 
regeneration  and  of  faith  in  Christ,  applied 


A  LITTLE  PROTESTANT. 


39 


for  membership  in  the  Gethsemane  Baptist 
Church,  was  received  and  baptized,  in  Octo¬ 
ber,  1882,  by  the  highly  esteemed  pastor,  the 
Rev.  R.  B.  Montgomery,  whose  record  is  as 
follows  :  “  Ten  years  ago  last  October,  I  was 

privileged  to  baptize  Miss  Minnie  Diaz,  then 
a  member  of  my  Sunday-school.  One  month 
later,  November  26,  I  baptized  Alberto  J. 
Diaz,  her  brother,  now  the  apostle  of  Cuba. 
Their  experiences  of  the  saving  grace  of  God, 
though  told  in  very  broken  English,  were 
most  satisfactory  to  all  who  heard  them. 
They  were  lovingly  received  into  fellowship.” 

And  so  it  came  about  that  Minnie  gave  her 
heart  to  Christ  and  wras  baptized — the  first  of 
the  family,  the  first  of  all  the  Cubans.  That 
w7as  a  little  more  than  ten  years  ago.  Now 
she  is  a  most  efficient  helper  of  her  brother, 
a  teacher  in  a  school,  organist  in  the  religious 
services  of  the  church,  and  ready  for  any¬ 
thing  which  may  seem  to  demand  her  help. 

I 

A  LITTLE  PROTESTANT. 

Meantime,  the  younger  sister,  Clotilde, 
was  in  the  same  Sabbath-school,  and  when 
their  brother  took  them  both  back  with  him 


20  THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 

to  Havana,  their  mother  greeted  them  with 
affection,  but  was  shocked  to  learn  that  Min¬ 
nie  had  become  a  Baptist.  What  could  she 
do  ?  If  she  could  not  prevent  Minnie’s  be¬ 
coming  a  Protestant,  she  could  yet  control 
Clotilde.  So,  when  she  put  the  child  to  bed, 
she  would  have  her  cross  herself  and  say  her 
“Hail  Mary.”  But  it  was  too  late.  The 
Bible  and  the  instruction  of  a  faithful  Sab¬ 
bath-school  teacher  had  done  their  work. 
Clotilde  refused  to  make  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  or  to  pray  to  the  Virgin.  Her  mother 
was  greatly  shocked  and  chagrined.  Finally 
she  said  to  the  little  girl,  “If  you  do  not 
make  the  sign  of  the  cross,  I  will  not  kiss 
you  good  night.” 

“Very  well,  mother.  I  can’t  make  the  sign 
of  the  cross.  It  is  not  right.  Good  night, 
mother.” 

And  the  mother  was  obliged  to  leave  the 
little  Protestant  to  herself  and  her  Savior. 
In  process  of  time  she  gave  evidence  of 
genuine  conversion,  and  was  baptized  by  her 
brother  in  the  presence  of  her  delighted 
mother,  who  had  herself  been  already  bap¬ 
tized. 


WHAT  NEXT  ? 


21 


WHAT  NEXT? 

Now,  having  gone  another  step  in  his 
Christian  career,  having  publicly  “  put  on  ” 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  heart  of  Diaz  be¬ 
gan  to  turn  again  towards  his  native  island. 
He  became  more  bold  in  his  profession,  more 
sure  of  his  ground.  He  began  to  feel  a  more 
ardent  desire  to  tell  his  countrymen,  more 
especially  his  old  associates,  what  he  had 
found  in  Christ.  He  talked  wTith  his  pastor, 
and  then  he  went  over  to  New  York,  sought 
out  Dr.  Morehouse,  of  the  Home  Mission 
Society,  and  talked  with  him  about  the  ex¬ 
pediency  and  feasibility  of  opening  a  mission 
in  Cuba.  All  he  desired  was  some  kind  of 
backing,  and  he  would  go  and  carry  the 
gospel  to  his  fellow  countrymen. 

But  Dr.  Morehouse  could  not  see  his  way 
clear  to  project  a  mission  among  the  Roman¬ 
ists  of  Cuba.  The  Home  Mission  Society  had 
its  hands  more  than  full.  Cries  were  coining 
up  from  all  parts  of  our  own  land  for  help  to 
build  churches,  to  support  schools,  to  aid 
feeble  churches,  to  support  missionaries.  The 
people  -were  slow  to  respond  to  his  appeals. 
They  could  not  see  the  need  of  giving  so 
much  money  to  home  missions.  Some  were 


22  THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 

i 

indifferent,  some  were  stingy,  some  were  only 
half-hearted.  The  funds  of  the  Society  did 
not  warrant  the  undertaking  of  a  mission  to 
Cuba.  Diaz  got  no  encouragement  there. 
And  Secretary  Morehouse  was  not  at  fault. 
He  acted  up  to  the  best  light  he  had.  He 
was  going  as  fast  as  his  brethren  enabled  him 
to  go  ;  faster  than  some  of  them  thought  he 
ought  to  go. 

A  BIBLE  COLPORTEUR. 

Just  then  there  came  to  Diaz  the  an¬ 
nouncement  that  a  Female  Bible  Society  in 
Philadelphia  had  thought  of  sending  a  col¬ 
porteur  to  Cuba.  They  had  heard  that  the 
island  was  open,  as  it  had  never  been  before. 
If  they  only  had  “  the  right  man/’  they 
would  send  him.  The  right  man  was  ready 
to  undertake  the  work,  and  soon  he  was 
under  appointment.  In  1883  he  went  back 
to  Cuba,  taking  his  sisters  with  him. 

It  was  then  that  his  mother  learned  that 
Minnie  had  been  baptized,  and  then  also  she 
found  that  the  little  Clotilde  had  imbibed 
so  much  Protestantism  that  she  could  not  be 
induced  to  make  the  sign  of  the  cross  or  pray 
to  the  Virgin.  When  Alberto  landed  in 


A  BIBLE  COLPORTEUR. 


23 


Havana,  as  he  says  of  himself,  he  had 
“  nothing  in  the  world  but  his  box  of  Bibles 
and  his  faith  in  God.”  He  was  practically 
alone,  laying  siege  to  the  Romanism  of  Cuba 
— one  lone  colporteur  against  a  million  and 
a  half  of  Romanists.  But,  on  his  side  wTas 
the  Bible,  Christ,  the  power  of  God,  the 
promise,  “Lo,  I  am  with  you  always.”  On 
their  side  was  superstition,  idolatry,  priest¬ 
craft,  wickedness.  He  sat  down  before  the 
fortress.  No,  he  did  not  sit  down.  He  went 
to  work.  He  went  out  among  the  neighbor¬ 
ing  towns.  He  talked  Christ  and  salvation. 
He  sold  Bibles,  gave  away  Bibles. 

The  priests  sometimes  tell  us  that  the  Bible 
is  not  prohibited  to  the  people  ;  that  they 
are  not  forbidden  to  read  it.  But,  though  it 
may  be  true  that  some  are  permitted  to  read 
it,  wdien  they  are  of  such  standing  that  they 
can  not  be  safely  Tbf bidden,  there  are  two 
reasons  why  the  Spanish-speaking  Cubans 
can  not  and  do  not  read  the  Spanish  version 
of  the  Bible  issued  by  the  Church  of  Rome: 
One  is  that  many  of  them  can  not  read;  and 
the  other,  that  no  edition  of  the  Bible  in  the 
Spanish  language  can  be  procured  for  less 
than  $28,  unless  it  be  that  published  by  the 


24 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


American  or  some  other  Bible  Society.  Now, 
however,  the  Bible  in  Spanish  issued  by  the 
American  Bible  Society  is  sold  for  65  cents, 
and  the  Rev.  A.  J.  McKim  told  the  writer 
that,  during  the  eight  years  since  he  became 
colporteur,  succeeding  Bro.  Diaz,  he  has  sold 
17,000  copies  of  the  Bible,  or  Testament,  in 
Cuba. 

.  IN  PRISON. 

Diaz  entered  upon  his  work  as  Bible  col¬ 
porteur  with  great  zeal.  It  wTas  precisely  the 
work  for  which  his  heart  yearned.  It  gave 
him  opportunity  to  talk  of  Christ  and  salva¬ 
tion  ;  to  compare  the  teachings  of  Scripture 
and  that  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

First  of  all,  he  went  to  his  old  associates, 
in  the  university,  the  medical  school,  the 
army — those  to  whom  he  had  begun  to  tell 
the  story  of  salvation  while  he  was  yet  a 
novice.  Now  he  was  strong.  He  had  not 
only  his  faith  in  God,  in  Christ,  in  the  Bible, 
but  he  had  the  backing  of  the  Bible  Society. 
One  day  he  went  out  some  distance  from 
Havana  by  rail,  having  two  boxes  of  books 
with  him.  He  was  not  unknown  to  the 
police.  He  had  been  a  rebel,  and  the  Span- 


IN  PRISON. 


25 


ish  police  was  on  the  alert  for  any  signs  of 
conspiracy  against  the  government.  When 
they  saw  the  former  rebel  with  his  boxes, 
they  thought  of  a  possible  conspiracy  and 
dynamite.  As  he  was  sitting  in  the  car,  an 
officer  tapped  him  on  the  shoulder  and 
asked:  “  Is  your  name  Diaz?”  “  Yes,  that 
is  my  name.”  “I  am  to  arrest  you.”  And 
he  took  the  Bible  man  and  his  boxes  of 
Bibles  to  the  nearest  prison,  and  made  his 
report  to  the  mayor  of  the  town.  The  pris¬ 
oner  was  put  in  one  cell,  and  his  boxes  of 
Bibles  into  another. 

After  he  had  been  locked  up,  an  officer 
came  and  asked  if  he  was  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States;  and  when  Diaz  answered  that 
he  was,  the  officer  made  a  note  of  the  fact, 
and  Diaz  wrrote  to  the  American  consul  for 
that  District,  a  Mr.  Barger.  On  the  follow¬ 
ing  Sabbath  he  asked  the  jailer  if  he  might 
talk  to  the  prisoners,  and  was  refused  the 
privilege.  But  he  wanted  to  tell  them  about 
Jesus;  so  he  sang  a  song,  prayed  aloud,  took 
a  text  and  preached,  so  that  all  could  hear 
him,  and  all  who  could  do  so  gathered  about 
his  cell  to  listen.  On  Tuesday  his  friends 
came  with  an  order  from  the  consul  and  re- 


4 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


26 


leased  him.  Then  he  took  his  boxes  and 
went  to  a  hotel  and  opened  them.  All 
wanted  some  of  the  filibustering  books,  so 
that  he  sold  them  all — one  of  them  to  the 
mayor.  The  next  week  the  mayor  came  to 
him  saying,  “  That  is  a  good  book,”  and 
asked  him:  “Where  is  infant  baptism 
taught  in  the  book  ?”  Diaz  told  him  it  was 
not  there.  Then  he  asked:  “  Where  is  pur¬ 
gatory  taught  in  the  book?”  and  he  was  told 
that  it  was  not  there.  Then  Diaz  told  that 
mayor  about  Jesus,  and  subsequently  bap¬ 
tized  him,  his  jailer  and  seventy-five  more 
citizens  of  that  place.  The  mayor  told  him 
that  the  priests  had  informed  against  him 
and  had  been  the  cause  of  his  imprisonment, 
though  it  was  done  under  the  plea  that  he 
might  be  a  filibuster. 


A  RELIGIOUS  SOCIETY. 

But  his  work  centered  in  Havana.  There 
he  became  a  center  of  interest.  The  young 
men  became  more  and  more  interested.  They 
began  to  see  the  superiority  of  the  Bible  doc¬ 
trines  to  those  of  their  accustomed  teachers. 
One  day  some  of  them  proposed  to  him  that 


A  RELIGIOUS  SOCIETY. 


27 


he  meet  them,  and  others  whom  they  might 
bring,  in  the  assembly  room  of  the  Pasaje 
Hotel,  on  Sabbath  afternoon,  and  there  tell 
them  his  experience,  and  what  he  had  found 
in  Christ.  They  came  at  the  appointed 
time,  in  considerable  numbers.  He  told 
them  his  story,  and  tried  to  show  them  the 
way  of  life.  Some  believed,  some  doubted; 
and  others  said:  “  We  will  hear  thee  again 
of  this  matter.”  They  would  come  in  like 
manner  on  the  following  Sabbath.  They 
came,  in  still  larger  numbers,  and  he  told 
them  more.  Then  they  said:  “We  would 
like  to  have  these  Sabbath  meetings  contin* 
ued  indefinitely,  so  that  we  can  invite  our 
friends  and  bring  them  under  the  same  in¬ 
fluence  with  ourselves.  It  is  not  right  that 
we  impose  upon  this  hotel.  We  have  no 
certain  right  to  hold  meetings  here.  Let  us 
hire  a  room  somewhere,  and  hold  our  meet¬ 
ings  regularly.”  They  went  around  on  the 
other  side  of  the  same  block,  where  they 
found  a  room,  small,  but  large  enough  for 
their  immediate  requirements.  From  that 
time  on,  for  the  space  of  a  year  or  more,  they 
met  regularly  in  the  same  place. 


28 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


THE  REFORMED  CHURCH  OF  CUBA. 

When  several  had  come  to  accept  the  gos¬ 
pel  and  enter  into  the  liberty  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus,  they  desired  an  organization,  and  so 
called  it  a  “  Society  for  Religious  Worship.” 
But  when  it  became  known  to  the  authori¬ 
ties  that  they  were  accustomed  to  hold  such 
meetings,  they  were  told  that  their  assem¬ 
bly  was  contrary  to  law,  and  that  they  were 
liable  to  be  regarded  as  conspirators.  So 
they  found  it  needful  to  include  the  word 
church  in  their  title.  They  called  themselves, 
therefore,  “The  Reformed  Church  of  Cuba.” 
This  gave  them  government  recognition,  and 
certain  legal  rights  and  immunities  which 
they  could  not  have  enjoyed  otherwise.  At 
the  same  time,  the  sister  of  Diaz,  Miss  Min¬ 
nie,  was  active  among  the  young  women, 
and  wTas  winning  one  and  another  to  the 
Master.  Among  others  who  believed  was 
she  who  afterwards  became  the  wife  of  Diaz, 
and  whom  he  baptized  writh  all  her  father’s 
family. 

BAPTISTS. 

Soon  the  meetings  of  these  people  and  the 
fact  of  their  revolt  from  the  Catholic  Church 


BAPTISTS. 


29 


were  noised  abroad,  and  came  to  the  ears  of 
certain  persons  from  the  United  States,  prin¬ 
cipally  of  the  Episcopal  faith.  Among  those 
who  became  interested  was  the  American 
Consul  General  of  the  island,  Mr.  Ramon  0. 
Williams,  whose  wife  was  a  native  of  Cuba, 
and  a  member  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Mr. 
Williams  became  interested  so  far  as  to  sub¬ 
scribe  to  a  fund  to  bring  over  to  the  island  a 
representative  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  the 
United  States  who  might  gather  these  people 
into  that  Church. 

Soon  after  the  subscription  had  been  made, 
a  priest  of  the  Episcopal  Church  came  to 
Havana.  Then  a  bishop  appeared,  and,  in 
one  of  the  meetings,  proposed  that  all  be 
confirmed  and  become  members  of  a  Prot¬ 
estant  Episcopal  Church  Mr.  Diaz  could 
not  interpose  without  a  breach  of  faith  with 
the  Bible  Society ;  and  so,  in  compliance 
with  the  suggestion  of  the  bishop,  all  kneeled 
down  while  he  went  around  among  them  and 
“  confirmed  ”  the  whole  assembly.  When  he 
was  gone,  however,  the  “  confirmed  ”  came 
to  themselves  and  said  :  “  That  is  not  what 

we  want.”  Those  who  had  already  tasted  of 
the  grace  of  God  and  bad  passed  from  death 


30  THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 

. 

to  life,  said  :  “  That  is  too  much  like  the 

Church  from  which  we  came  out.  Those  who 
do  not  profess  to  have  been  born  of  the 
Spirit  are  not  yet  prepared  for  membership 
in  a  Church  of  Christ,  a  spiritual  body.” 
The  others  saw  that  the  whole  thing  was  a 
farce,  and  had  no  disposition  to  continue  in 
such  a  position.  But  the  bishop  came  again, 
and,  after  certain  religious  services,  retired. 
Then  Mr.  Diaz,  who  had  previously  studied 
under  a  professor  in  the  Union  Theological 
Seminary  in  New  York,  and  had  given  some 
attention  to  Church  questions,  wrhile  waiting! 
for  indications  of  the  Divine  will  as  to  his 
service,  responded  to  a  request  that  he  tell 
these  neophytes  wherein  the  principal  Prot¬ 
estant  denominations  differ  one  from  an¬ 
other.  He  told  them  of  the  bishops  of  the 
Episcopal  Church,  the  bishopric  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  the  presbytery  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  independence 
of  the  individual  Baptist  Church.  Then  he 
said  :  “All  you  who  would  like  to  organize 
as  an  Episcopal  Church,  raise  your  hands.” 
Not  a  hand  was  raised.  “All  who  would  like 
to  organize  as  a  Methodist  Church,  raise 
your  hands.”  Not  a  hand  was  raised.  “All 


MARRIAGE. 


31 


who  would  like  to  organize  as  a  Presbyterian 
Church,  raise  your  hands.”  Not  a  hand 
went  up.  “All  who  would  like  to  organize  as 
a  Baptist  Church,  stand  up.”  Every  indivi¬ 
dual  stood  up.  Then  Diaz,  who,  like  Esther, 
had  not  yet  told  of  his  denominational  rela¬ 
tions  said  :  “  I  am  very  glad  that  you  have 

expressed  a  preference  for  a  Baptist  Church, 
for  I  am  a  Baptist  and  will  associate  myself 
with  you  denominationally.”  Then  they 
talked  it  all  over,  and  resolved  to  stand  to¬ 
gether. 

MARRIAGE. 

Up  to  this  time  Diaz  had  remained  un¬ 
married;  but  a  certain  young  lady  among 
the  believers  had  won  his  affections  and  he 
had  received  evidence  that  his  love  was 
reciprocated.  The  question  of  marrjage  had 
been  raised.  Neither  of  them  could  consent 
to  be  married  by  a  priest  of  Rome,  and  there 
was  no  other  minister  on  the  island;  and  as 
yet  civil  marriages  had  not  been  recognized 
by  the  Spanish  authorities.  It  was  therefore 
agreed  that  when  the  Bishop  should  come 
again,  as  he  was  expected  to  do,  they  would 
ask  him  to  marry  them.  At  the  beginning 


32  THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 

of  the  meeting,  therefore,  the  marriage  ser¬ 
vice  was  performed,  and  the  bride,  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  country,  retired  with 
her  sister,  while  the  bridegroom  was  expected 
to  find  his  wav  to  the  home  of  the  bride  at  a 
later  hour.  Diaz  staid  to  hold  the  confer¬ 
ence  with  his  friends  and  with  the  Bishop. 
At  the  close  of  the  interview  and  after  the 
decision  to  seek  union  with  the  Baptists, 
he  went  to  his  own  home  and  went  to  bed. 
So  full  was  his  mind  of  the  things  which  he 
had  heard,  and  seen,  and  said,  that  he  could 
think  of  nothing  else  for  half  an  hour,  when 
it  suddenly  occurred  to  him,  “I  was  married 
to-night. ”  For  a  moment  he  was  both  con¬ 
fused  and  amused  ;  rose,  dressed  himself 
and  sought  'the  home  of  his  bride. 

A  SABBATH-SCHOOL. 

At  the  first,  the  work  of  Bro.  Diaz  was 
mostly  with  young  men.  He  had  access  to 
very  few  children,  and  did  not  see  his  way 
clear  to  undertake  a  Sabbath-school.  But 
his  sisters,  both,  had  been  in  such  a  school, 
and  they  longed  to  see  one  in  their  own  city. 
They  spoke  to  their  brother  about  it.  But 
he  could  not  see  his  way  clear  to  undertake 


BAPTISMS  IN  TPIE  SEA. 


33 


it.  One  day  Clotilde  said:  “Alberto,  won’t 
you  let  me  be  your  Sabbath-school  scholar? 
Won’t  you  teach  me,  Sabbath  afternoons?” 
Of  course  he  said  “  Yes,”  and  that  was  fixed. 
“But,”  said  Clotilde,  “Alberto,  won’t  you  let 

me  bring - ?”  (naming  one  of  her  friends.) 

The  friend  came,  and  there  was  a  class  of  two. 
Then  said  she,  “Alberto,  won’t  you  let  me 

bring - ?”  (naming  another  of  her  friends.) 

“Oh,  yes;  you  may  bring  her.”  And  soon  a 
large  class  had  been  gathered,  and  before  he 
knew  it  he  had  a  full-fledged  Sabbath-school. 
And  it -has  been  kept  going  from  that  day 
till  now.  Of  course,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  get 
the  children  of  those  Catholic  parents  as  to 
get  the  children  of  Protestants  here  in  our 
cities.  But  they  come,  and  the  sisters  are 
teachers,  both  of  them. 


BAPTISMS  IN  THE  SEA. 


Meantime  the  Baptists  of  Florida  had  been 
moved  to  begin  mission  work  on  the  island 
of  Key  West,  lying  on  the  direct  route  from 
the  Western  coast  of  that  State  to  Havana. 
The  Rev.  W.  F.  Wood  was  sent  there,  and 
soon  found  in  his  congregation  several  Cubans 
who  were  working  in  the  cigar  shops,  of 


34  THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 

which  there  are  many  on  the  island.  Some 
of  these  came  to  him  and  told  him  of  Diaz 
and  what  was  going  on  in  Cuba.  Several  of 
them  gave  evidence  of  faith  in  Christ,  and 
Mr.  Wood  baptized  them.  Then  they  began 
to  beseech  him  to  go  over  to  Havana  and  see 
for  himself  what  was  going  on  there.  They 
told  him  that  Diaz  was  teaching  the  same 
doctrines  that  he  was  teaching,  and  that  he 
had  a  large  following.  After  consulting  with 
the  Secretary  of  the  Home  Mission  Board, 
Mr.  Wood  made  the  trip  to  Cuba,  found  Diaz, 
and  found  also  that  what  he  had  heard  was 
only  part  of  the  whole  truth.  He  became 
deeply  interested,  and,  as  Diaz  had  not  been 
ordained  and  had  not  presumed  to  baptize 
any  one,  Bro.  Wood  undertook  to  supply  the 
lack.  The  little  company  had  no  baptistery, 
and  it  was  contrary  to  law  to  perform  such 
a  service  out  of  doors.  Besides,  there  was 
no  place  within  the  city  where  baptism 
could  be  administered.  But  the  sea  was 
not  far  away,  and  on  the  north  side  of  the 
city  the  streets  run  some  distance  from  the 
beach.  Engaging  a  hack  Mr.  Wood  took 
two  of  the  believers  and  went  out  along  the 
beach,  and  at  a  quiet  and  secluded  place 


ORDINATION. 


35 


left  the  hackman  to  care  for  his  animal, 
while  he  and  the  believers  went  over  the 
bluff,  out  of  sight,  and  there  he  baptized 
them.  He  went  again  with  others,  and  still 
others  ;  but  he  was  watched  by  the  police, 
who  got  so  near  that  they  could  take  the  num¬ 
ber  of  the  hack,  though  they  did  not  recog¬ 
nize  the  men  in  it.  Thev  arrested  the  driver, 
the  next  day,  and  when  he  was  brought 
before  the  magistrate  and  questioned  as  to 
what  he  had  been  doing,  and  as  to  the  men 
whom  he  had  carried,  he  said  he  did  not 
know  what  was  done  over  the  bluff,  but  he 
knew  that  “when  the  men  came  back  they 
were  very  wet.”  It  became  evident  that  the 
driver  was  an  innocent  party,  and  he  was 
dismissed;  but  it  was  not  safe  for  Bro.  Wood 
to  attempt  the  baptism  of  any  others. 

ORDINATION. 

He  encouraged  Diaz  to  find  a  place  where 
he  could  put  a  baptistery,  and  to  come  him¬ 
self  to  Key  West  and  receive  ordination. 
Of  course,  this  involved  a  separation  from 
the  Bible  Society,  and  a  devotement  of  him¬ 
self  entirely  to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel. 
This  was  decided.  At  that  time  there  were 


36 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


in  Havana  about  two  hundred  persons  of 
whom  Diaz,  in  his  broken  English,  said 
that  they  were  “new  mens  and  new  womens. ” 
It  was  this  that  he  sought — the  evidence  of 
regeneration.  He  would  not  put  the  new 
wine  into  old  bottles.  He  sought  evidence 
of  a  living  faith  and  a  regenerate  heart. 
He  knew  what  he  had  received,  and  he 
wished  those  who  joined  him  to  possess  like 
precious  faith. 


FIRST  BAPTISM. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  family  of 
Bro.  Diaz,  but  only  incidentally.  It  should 
be  said  that  his  father,  mother,  three  sisters 
and  a  brother  still  remain  of  twenty-four 
children  born  to  their  parents  ;  and  all 
are  in  most  hearty  sympathy  with  the  oldest 
son  and  brother,  the  leader  in  the  great 
work  of  evangelization.  When  he  began, 
his  work  did  not  please  his  mother,  who 
was  strongly  attached  to  the  Church  of 
Rome  and  its  priesthood.  For  six  months 
she  refused  to  speak  to  her  son,  whom 
she  regarded  as  a  dangerous  heretic  and 
a  troubler  of  the  family.  After  his  or¬ 
dination  at  Key  West  he  began  holding 


FIRST  BAPTISM. 


37 


meetings  in  a  storeroom  rented  for  the  pur¬ 
pose,  in  which  he  was  able  to  construct  a 
baptistery,  the  law  not  allowing  any  rel¬ 
igious  service  or  a  baptism,  in  the  open  air. 
During  the  same  time,  the  mother,  who  was 
mourning  over  the  evil  ways  of  her  son,  be¬ 
gan  to  inquire  the  way  of  life  for  herself. 
She  could  not  rest,  nor  could  she  be  indiffer¬ 
ent  to  the  things  going  on  so  near  her.  Yet 
she  made  no  sign  till,  on  the  night  of  the 
first  baptism  in  the  new  baptistery,  what 
was  the  amazement  of  the  son  to  see  his 
mother  in  the  rear  of  the  congregation. 
When  the  time  for  the  baptism  came,  and 
he  was  about  to  go  into  the  baptistery,  his 
astonishment  was  increased,  as  he  saw  his 
mother  coming  towards  him.  He  thought 
at  first  that  she  must  be  about  to  upbraid 
him  for  his  conduct,  and  tried  to  shun  her. 
But  she  called  to  him,  saying,  “  Alberto,  are 
you  not  willing  that  your  mother  should  be 
a  Christian  and  be  baptized?”  The  surprise 
was  overwhelming.  His  heart  was  in  his 
mouth,  and  he  hardly  knew  what  he  was 
doing.  Of  course,  he  would  baptize  his 
mother,  if  she  believed  in  Jesus  as  her  per¬ 
sonal  Savior,  and  repudiated  the  doctrines 


38  THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 

i 

in  which  she  had  been  educated.  Soon  both 
mother  and  son  were  in  the  baptistery.  Diaz 
had  taken  pains  to  commit  the  formula  for 
baptism,  and  supposed  that  he  could  repeat 
it  readily.  But  when  he  stood  there  with 
his  mother,  so  much  to  his  surprise  and  joy, 
he  forgot  everything  but  the  sacred  act,  and 
lifted  up  his  voice,  saying,  “0  Lord  Jesus, 
this  is  my  mother,  and  I  am  going  to  bap¬ 
tize  her.”  And  he  suited  the  action  to  the 
word — his  first  baptism,  now  just  seven 
years  ago.  From  that  time  his  mother  has 
been  one  of  his  most  ardent  supporters,  her 
heart  glowing  with  zeal  for  the  work;  mod¬ 
est,  retiring,  but  firm  and  true. 

A  SIEGE  AND  A  CONQUEST. 

And  still  the  father,  less  zealous  than  the 
mother,  held  to  his  ancestral  religion.  He 
did  not  forcefully  or  openly  oppose  his  wife 
and  children,  but  he  had  no  sympathy  with 
them.  The  years  passed  on  and  he  wras  not 
converted.  At  length  Clotilde  could  endure 
it  no  longer,  and  began  to  lay  siege  to  her 
father’s  heart.  One  Sabbath  she  said  to  him, 
“Father,  I  have  been  busy  this  morning,  and 
have  not  studied  my  Sabbath-school  lesson 


A  SIEGE  AND  A  CONQUEST. 


39 


as  I  ought  to  have  done.  Won’t  you  read 
this  verse  for  me?”'  Of  course  he  would! 
“Oh,  yes,  Sis;  I’ll  read  the  verse  for  you.” 
And  he  read  it.  Another  day  she  said: 
“Father,  I  have  not  studied  my  Sabbath- 
school  lesson  as  much  as  I  ought  to  have 
done,  and  it  is  late,  so  that  I  shall  have  to 
hurry  to  get  ready  for  Sabbath-school.  Won’t 
you  read  this  lesson  for  me  while  I  am  getting 
ready?”  Certainly  he  would.  And  he  read 
that  lesson.  And  he  read  other  lessons. 
After  some  time  she  said  to  him:  “Father,  I 
have  not  read  my  Bible  as  much  as  I  ought 
to  have  done,  to-day.  And  I’m  tired  and 
sleepy.  Won’t  you  come  and  sit  by  my  bed, 

t 

after  I  am  in  bed,  and  read  the  Bible  to  me?” 
Oh,  yes;  he  would  do  that.  So  when  she 
was  in  bed,  he  sat  down  by  her  side  and 
began  to  read  for  her.  About  two  o’clock  in  ' 
the  morning,  Alberto  awoke  and  saw  a  light 
in  his  sister’s  room.  He  wondered  what  it 
meant,  and,  thinking  that  she  might  be  ill, 
went  to  see.  He  went  softly  and  looked  in; 
and  there  sat  his  father,  reading  the  Bible 
which  he  had  begun  to  read  when  his 
daughter  went  to  bed.  Alberto  returned  as 
softly  as  he  had  'come,  saying,  “That  settles 


/ 


40  THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 

i 

it.  He’ll  come  now.”  Soon  he  came,  and 
now  he  continues  steadfast  in  the  doctrines 
of  the  Bible  and  the  fellowship  of  the  Bap¬ 
tists,  one  of  the  happiest  men  in  Cuba,  his 
eyes  brimming  with  tears  of  joy  as  he  sees 
the  wonderful  work  of  grace,  and  sees  his 
whole  family  the  fruit  of  it.  A  little  child 
has  led  him. 

WORK  REPORTED. 

In  the  spring  of  1886,  Diaz  was  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention 
at  Montgomery,  Ala.,  and  of  his  address  on 
that  occasion  the  .Journal  and  Messenger’s 

« 

report  said:  “  He  gave  a  detailed  report  of 
his  work  in  Havana  by  displaying  an  elab¬ 
orate  chart  of  the  city.  He  has  established 
a  good  school  of  sixty  girls,  of  which  his 
sister  is  principal.  He  has  six  preaching 
stations  in  Havana.  If  he  were  not  careful 
in  the  reception  of  members,  he  could  soon 
have  a  thousand  members.  At  one  time 
forty-nine  asked  baptism,  but  he  told  them: 
‘No,  sir;  you  must  read  the  New  Testament* 
first.’  In  the  principal  Church,  all  the 
members  go  with  their  New  Testaments  in 
their  pockets,  and  work  among  the  people. 


WORK  REPORTED. 


41 


Such  was  the  earnestness  and  eagerness  of 
the  people  that  they  had  at  one  time  offered 
$2.00  fora  seat  in  his  church.  They  suffered 
greatly  from  the  Roman  Catholics.  They 
do  not  allow  Protestants  to  be  buried  in 
their  cemeteries.  They  will  allow  the  inter¬ 
ment  of  Jews  or  Chinese — anybody  but  Prot¬ 
estants.  In  answer  to  prayer,  a  gentleman 
from  Boston  had  offered  to  buy  a  cemetery 
for  Baptist  burial'  His  entire  family  were 
now  members  of  the  Baptist  Church.  His 
mother  was  a  zealous  Catholic,  but  he  was 
glad  to  say  that  she  was  the  first  whom  he 
had  buried  with  Christ  in  baptism.  The 
Baptists  of  Havana  had  sent  two  mission¬ 
aries — one  to  Spain  and  one  to  the  United 
States.”  At  that  meeting  our  Southern 
brethren  voted  to  commit  the  work  in  Cuba, 
although  it  is  a  foreign  country,  to  the  Home 
Mission  Board,  and  began  to  talk  about  rais¬ 
ing  money  for  a  house  of  worship,  that  the 
little  band,  which  was  growing  too  large  for 
its  quarters  in  the  storeroom  on  the  Prado, 
might  have  a  place  of  worship  commensu¬ 
rate  with  its  needs.  An  Episcopalian  had 
asked  the  privilege  of  giving  $100  towards 
it,  and  the  next  day  a  Methodist  lady  offered 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


42 

*? 

a  similar  amount.  Diaz  went  back  to  Hav¬ 
ana  with  assurances  that  Cuba  would  not 
be  forgotten  by  his  brethren  in  the  United 
States. 


THREE  HUNDRED  BAPTIZED. 

During  the  first  fifteen  months  after  the 
organization  of  his  Church,  Diaz  baptized 
three  hundred  converts,  all  intelligently 
leaving  the  Church  of  Rohie  and  covenant¬ 
ing  with  each  other  to  live  and  labor  for  the 
redemption  of  Cuba  from  the  thralldom  of 
Romanism.  They  knew  what  they  believed, 
and,  above  all,  they  knew  why  they  did  not 
longer  sympathize  with  the  Church  of  Rome, 
nor  obey  the  behests  of  her  priests  and 
bishops.  Among  the  baptized  was  every 
member  of  his  own  familv  and  of  his  wife’s 
familv,  and  he  said:  “ There  are  seventeen 
of  us  in  the  house,  and  it  is  a  Baptist 
Church.”  During  those  fifteen  months  these 
people  had  given  $1,078.50  for  the  support 
of  their  own  Church  ;  $80  for  missions  in 
Florida,  and  $2  to  each  of  the  Southern 
Boards.  They  called  their  organization  the 
Gethsemane  Baptist  Church,  after  the 
Church  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  where  Alberto 


THREE  HUNDRED  BAPTIZED. 


43 


and  Minnie  had  been  baptized.  Telling  of 
bis  experiences  and  some  of  the  annoyances 
endured,  in  a  speech  before  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention,  in  Louisville  in  1SS7, 
he  said: 

“Now  you  remember  that  at  the  last  con¬ 
vention  I  told  you  about  our  cemetery;  we 
had  none.  Mr.  Payne,  of  Boston,  gave  me 
$200.  I  got  the  lot ;  we  had  to  have  it. 
They  -won’t  let  us  bury  Baptists  in  conse¬ 
crated  ground ;  they  are  not  consecrated. 
The  Baptists  have  to  be  buried  in  ground 
-with  suicides  and  those  killed  by  law\  Be¬ 
fore  we  bought  our  lot  a  member  died.  He 
was  from  Kentucky.  We  buried  him,  and 
the  next  day  I  went  to  put  flowers  on  his 
grave.  It  was  exposed,  his  coffin  empty,  his 
coat  was  on  the  ground.  The  priest  was 
walking  around,  laughing,  and  said  the  pigs 
did  it.  I  said  :  “  You  ought  to  take  more 

care  of  the  graveyard.”  He  said  it  was  good 
enough  for  Baptists.  Then  I  was  wicked.  I 
went  to  the  priest  and  shook  him  for  a  min¬ 
ute.  Then  I  was  ashamed,  and  asked  God 
to  forgive  me,  and  asked  the  priest’s  pardon. 
He  would  not  hear  me.  Oh,  we  had  trouble 
there,  about  our  cemetery  !  I  had  to  write 


44  THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 

(J 

to  Dr.  Ticlienor.  Then  he  saw  Governor 
Brown.  He  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  State, 
who  wrote  to  the  Cuban  government,  and 
we  had  no  more  trouble.  I  went  to  the 
Alabama  Convention;  they  gave  $400;  that 
paid  for  it. 

“When  I  organized  the  Church  my  mother 
was  the  first  one  to  enter  ;  when  I  organized 
the  cemetery,  my  only  little  daughter  was  the 
first  to  be  buried.  Oh,  if  the  Lord  will  take 
my  family  as  leaders,  I  will  still  praise  his 
name.  It  was  so  bad  about  my  daughter’s 
death.  She  was  playing,  after  getting  over  a 
sickness,  on  the  floor  ;  then  lay  down  on 
the  bed  ;  her  mother  fanned  her  ;  soon  she 
screamed.  I  looked  ;  my  daughter’s  body 
was  there;  her  spirit  was  with  the  blessed 
Jesus.  I  was  getting  ready  to  come  to  this 
Convention,  and  did  not  have  time  to  bury 
her.  Friends  brought  flowers  :  my  brother 
remained  to  bury  my  little  daughter.  My 
wife  came  with  me  here  ;  our  hearts  are  sad, 
and  that  is  why  we  have  not  accepted  invita¬ 
tions  to  ride  out  or  go  to  different  places.  I 
did  not  come  to  have  a  good  time,  but  to 
tell  you  of  God’s  work  in  Cuba.” 


A  PROVIDENTIAL  DETENTION. 


45 


A  PROVIDENTIAL  DETENTION. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention,  held  at  Richmond,  in  18S8,  the 
question  of  a  better  and  larger  house  of  wor¬ 
ship  for  the  Church  in  Havana  was  raised, 
and  the  Home  Mission  Board  was  instructed 
to  expend  $50,000  in  the  purchase  of  a  lot 
and  the  erection  of  the  needed  house.  In 
accordance  with  that  vote  Dr.  Tichenor,  the 
Secretary,  went  to  Havana  hoping  to  secure 
a  lot  wThich  Diaz  had  already  got  his  eye 
upon,  and  which  he  understood  was  for  sale. 
But  it  turned  out  that  the  title  could  not  be 
made  good,  and  the  Secretary,  as  well  as 
Diaz,  was  quite  disheartened.  Nothing  else 
being  within  reach,  Dr.  Tichenor  decided  to 
return  home  and  wait  for  further  develop¬ 
ments.  He  determined  to  take  a  certain 
steamer,  and,  at  the  hour  named  for  the 
embarkation,  went  down  to  the  office  to  pro¬ 
cure  a  ticket  and  go  on  board.  Here  he  was 
met  by  the  announcement  that,  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  a  new  rule  just  adopted  by  the 
government,  his  name  must  be  sent  for  a 
vise  by  an  official,  before  he  could  be  allowed 
to  embark,  and  it  was  then  just  a  moment 
too  late  to  procure  the  vise.  The  list  had 


46 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


gone  and  nothing  was  left  but  to  submit  and 
remain  in  Havana  until  the  sailing  of  the 
next  steamer.  Much  disappointed,  Dr.  Tich- 
enor  returned  to  the  hotel  and  he  and  Diaz 
had  another  conversation  over  the  question 
of  house  and  location.  '  Diaz  went  out,  and 
soon  returned,  saying:  ‘‘Doctor,  I  have 
learned  that  the  little  theater  at  the  corner 
of  Zulueta  and  Dragones  streets  is  for  sale. 
It  cost  $140,000  to  b.uild  it;  but  the  owner 
has  failed  to  make  it  pay  expenses,  and  it  is 
in  the  market  for  $70,000.” 

THE  LAW’S  DELAY. 

This  was  a  new  phase  of  the  case.  The 
Convention  had  authorized  an  expenditure 
of  $50,000,  hut  not  of  $70,000.  Still,  there 
might  be  propriety  in  considering  the  ques¬ 
tion.  The  two  men  sat  at  a  certain  marble- 
topped  table  in  the  parlor  of  the  hotel,  over 
the  sidewalk.  They  resolved  to  see  the 
owner  and  make  further  inquiries.  He  came 
to  them,  and  the  result  was  an  agreement 
on  his  part  to  sell  them  the  property  for 
$65,000  Spanish  money,  the  same  to  be  paid 
in  three  installments.  The  bargain  was 
made,  subject  to  the  ratification  of  the  Board 


THE  law’s  delay.  47 

of  the  Convention.  In  due  time  the  pur¬ 
chase  was  fully  authorized  and  the  money 
for  the  first  payment  secured  by  private 
subscription  on  the  part  of  noble-hearted 
men  in  the  South.  But,  when  it  was  pro¬ 
posed  to  make  the  payment,  it  was  found 
that  a  good  and  sufficient  title  could  not  be 
given.  The  matter  had  to  be  referred  to 
Spain,  and  more  than  a  year  was  consumed 
in  the  perfecting  of  the  title.  But  mean¬ 
time,  the  Church  was  put  in  possession  of 
the  house,  and  used  it  as  though  fully  own¬ 
ing  it,  without  rent,  beyond  the  interest  of 
the  purchase  money.  In  time,  however,  the 
title  was  perfected  and  the  money  has  now 
been  paid,  $65,000  in  Spanish  money,  equiv¬ 
alent  to  $60,000  in  American  gold. 

As  is  evident  in  the  picture  herewith,  the 
building  is  not  lofty.  In  general  the  public 
buildings  of  Havana  are  only  three  stories 
in  height,  and  that  is  true  of  the  church, 
which  was  built,  as  has  been  said,  for  a 
theatre.  *  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  upper 
stories  extend  out  over  the  side-walk,  which 
is  just  within  the  huge  pillars,  or  piers, 
prominent  in  the  picture.  There  are  two 
principal  entrances,  one  on  each  street.  The 


48 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


lower  gallery  has  a  passage-way,  or  aisle, 
running  all  the  way  around,  behind  it,  and 
the  second,  or  upper  gallery,  extends  out  to 
the  outer  wall,  over  the  pillars.  The  interior 
is  circular,  with  the  farther  side  flattened  for 
the  stage,  or  pulpit  platform.  It  is  lighted 
principally  from  the  dome,  seen  in  the  cut. 
There  is  much  ornamental  work  around  the 
galleries,  and  the  dome  is  panelled  and 
adorned  with  pictures  and  fruit  scenes. 
Formerly  there  was  a  series  of  pictures 
which  did  not  comport  with  the  sacred  use 
to  which  the  house  was  to  be  dedicated,  and 
they  were  painted  out,  and  in  their  places 
were  put  the  letters  spelling  dios  es  amor — 
God  is  love.  The  rear  of  the  stage  has  been 
cut  off',  leaving  only  room  for  the  baptistery 
and  a  platform  sufficient  for  a  pulpit,  run¬ 
ning  entirely  across  it.  On  the  wall  behind 
it  is  the  legend  cuba  para  christo — Cuba 
for  Christ.  On  either  corner  of  the  platform 
is  a  beautiful  marble  pillar,  the  gift  of  a  by 
no  means  wealthy  lady  friend  of  the  cause, 
which  serves  as  a  support  for  gas  fix¬ 
tures.  On  the  one  is  the  letter  y  and  on  the 
other  b,  standing  for  Baptist  Church.  The 
baptistery  is  a  beautiful  thing,  in  the  form 


49 


THE  LAW’S  DELAY. 

of  a  grotto,  the  bottom  resting  on  the 
ground,  the  back  built  up  with  composite 
stones  and  cement,  artistically  arranged, 
with  a  canopy  of  stucco  overhead  and  hang¬ 
ing  down  as  a  curtain  in  front ;  wings  of  the 
same  material  breaking  the  view  on  either 
side  in  front,  so  that  the  administrator  and 
the  candidate  for  baptism  appear  to  walk 
out  from  some  other  room  in  a  grotto,  and 
the  baptized  may  pass  across  and  disappear 
at  the  other  end.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  conceptions  which  we  have  ever 
seen  ;  and  it  would  be  quite  practicable  in 
many  other  churches.  It  should  be  under¬ 
stood  that  though  the  building  appears  low 
in  the  picture,  it  does  not  produce  such  an 
impression  on  one  looking  up  at  the  dome 
and  the  ceilings  on  the  inside.  It  is  in  good 
proportions  every  way.  It  is  such  a  house 
as  any  Church  might  be  glad  to  worship 
in.  And  it  stands  in  the  very  heart  of 
the  city,  on  the  line  between  the  old  and 
the  new,  only  a  single  block  from  the 
Prado,  the  principal  street,  and  only  two 
blocks  from  the  beautiful  park  where  the 
beauty  and  the  wickedness  of  Havana  may 


50 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


b©  seen,  any  evening,  in  close  proximity. 
A  line  of  street  railroad  runs  before  the 
door. 

“  WAITING  FOR  HENNA.” 

The  process  of  securing  the  title  was  long 
and  tedious.  The  house  had  been  built  on 
ground  formerly  owned  by  the  Spanish  Gov¬ 
ernment,  and  the  progress  of 'the  matter 
through  the  Spanish  courts  was  attended 
with  the  dilatoriness  for  which  all  courts 
are  proverbial,  but  which  is  most  notable  in 
the  courts  of  Spain.  The  money,  $20,000 
for  the  first  payment,  was  sent  over  to  Diaz  ; 
but  when  he  found  out  how  the  matter  stood, 
he  declined  to  make  the  payment,  placed  the 
money  in  bank  and  wrote  to  Dr.  Tichenor, 
giving  him  the  newly  discovered  facts.  Then 
the  money  came  back  to  Atlanta,  and  was 
loaned  out  on  call.  Some  who  heard  of  it 
thought  that  there  had  been  mismanage¬ 
ment,  and  that  all  was  not  straight.  Finally, 
"Secretary  Tichenor  went  over  to  Havana, 
•  with  the  assurance  that  a  few  days  would 
suffice  for  the  consummation.  But  still  there 
'was  delay.  The- .  owner  of  the  property 
seemed  to  be  rather  indifferent  and  to  find 


HELPERS  RAISED  UP. 


51 


easy  excuse  for  deferring  the  business.  Dr. 
Tichenor  was  taken  seriously  sick  of  fever, 
and  after  a  few  days  his  life  seemed  to  be  in 
imminent  peril.  He  himself  began  to  think 
of  the  probability  of  his  death  in  Cuba.  One 
day  he  said  :  “  Diaz,  if  I  die  here,  bury  me 

in  your  Cemetery,  erect  a  little  stone  at  my 
grave  and  inscribe  on  it,  ‘  Died  Helping 
Diaz/  ” 

“No,”  said  Diaz,  “I  will  not  say,  ‘Died 
helping  Diaz/  but  ‘  Died  waiting  for 
Henna.’  ” 

But  the  day  of  relief  finally  came.  The 
title  was  made  good,  the  payment  made,  and 
in  three  years  the  entire  amount  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  seller. 

♦ 

HELPERS  RAISED  UP.  *  *  . 

From  the  time  of  entering  the  new  house, 
the  course  of  the  Church  and  pastor  and  his 
fellow-helpers  has  been  constantly  onward.  \ 
The  new  believers  are  taught  that  works  / 
must  result  from  their  faith;  that  they  are  to v 
make  sacrifices  for  Christ,  and  are  to  con- 
tribute  according  to  their  ability  for  the 
spread  of  the  gospel.  The  treasurer  of  the 
church  meets  the  candidate  for  baptism  be- 


52 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


tween  the  dressing  room  and  the  baptistry, 
and  asks  him  how  much  he  proposes  to  give 
for  the  support  of  the  gospel.  No  member  is 
retained  who  does  not  do  something.  Con¬ 
sequently  there  is  constant  progress.  One 
mission  station  after  another  has  been  estab¬ 
lished,  and,  as  a  need  of  preachers  and 
pastors  has  arisen,  the  Lord  of  the  harvest 
has  provided  the  men  for  the  respective 
fields.  While  the  people  are,  as  a  rule,  very 
poor,  they  are  far  from  acting  the  part,  or 
presenting  the  appearance  of  paupers.  They 
are  not  making  appeals  for  help  in  money. 
Neither  Diaz  himself  nor  any  of  his  helpers 
is  making  appeals  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  for  help.  They  are  aware  that  there 
is  a  great  work  to  be  done,  and  they  do  not 
hesitate  to  point  it  out ;  but  when  they  have 
done  that,  they  leave  it  to  their  brethren  to 
determine  what  and  how  soon  help  is  to  be 
given. 

In  a  little  over  two  years  after  the  organi¬ 
zation  of.  the  Gethsemane  Baptist  Church, 
eleven  hundred  had  been  baptized,  and  Diaz 
said  that  eight  thousand  had  offered  them¬ 
selves  for  baptism  ;  but  he  was  careful  to  re¬ 
ceive  none  but  those  who  had  given  evidence 


THE  BISHOP  CONFOUNDED. 


53 


of  having  passed  from  death  unto  life. 
When  he  had  begun  to  establish  his  out- 
stations,  he  received  a  most  efficient  helper 
in  the  person  of  the  Bev.  J.  V.  Cova,  a  man 
of  education  and  preaching  ability,  who  has 
been  his  righthand  man  ever  since.  He  is  in 
charge  of  a  Church  known  as  the  Pilar.  At 
the  close  of  another  year,  in  1889,  Diaz  re¬ 
ported  :  Missionaries,  20;  Churches  and 
stations,  27  ;  baptisms,  300  ;  Sunday-schools, 
26  ;  teachers  and  pupils,  2,228  ;  total  mem¬ 
bership  of  the  seven  Churches,  1,493;  money 
collected  by  these  Churches,  $2,255.70. 

THE  BISHOP  CONFOUNDED. 

It  was  during  the  year  1888-9  that  the 
house  of  "worship  was  purchased.  The  issue 
had  been  joined  between  the  Baptists  and  the 
Bishop  of  Havana.  Unable  to  get  the  advan¬ 
tages  which  he  desired,  in  the  courts  of  the 
island,  the  bishop  went  to  Spain  to  lay  the 
case  before  the  authorities  at  Madrid.  But 
the  land  of  the  Inquisition,  of  “  Isabella  the 
Catholic  ”  whose  statue  graces  the  principal 
park  of  Havana,  has  undergone  changes 
since  the  days  of  Ferdinand,  Isabella  and 
Alva.  The  laws  have  been  so  framed  that 


54 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


it  is  possible  not  only  for  Protestants  to 
compel  protection  in  faraway  islands,  but  for 
the  Baptists  to  carry  on  missions  in  old 
Spain  itself,  as  they  are  doing  to-day.  The 
bishop  came  home  discouraged,  declaring  in 
his  official  paper  that  “Alberto  Diaz  is  the 
favorite  of  the  Cuban  government,  which 
grants  him  privileges  not  conferred  by  the 
law.’'  He  had  excommunicated  the  heretic, 
but  the  Cubans  had  ceased  to  regard  -  the 
fulminations  of  the  priesthood  as  they  had 
regarded  them  in  former  days.  It  did  not 
prevent  Diaz  from  getting  food  and  shelter 
and  raiment  as  aforetime.  He  had  the  sym¬ 
pathy  not  only  of  the  few  thousands  who 
had  been  in  his  church  and  had  listened  to 
his  preaching,  but  of  the  people  in  general, 
even  some  of  the  Spaniards,  so  that  he 
always  found  it  practicable  to  get  a  foothold 
in  the  out-lying  towns  as  fast  as  he  had  the 
men  and  means  to  occupy  the  ground. 

THE  PRIESTS  AND  THE  CEMETERY. 

But  what  of  the  opposition  and  resistance 
of  the  priests  and  the  bishop  ?  The  only 
wonder  is  that  these  men  have  not  been 
more  determined  in  their  persecution.  Did 


THE  PRIESTS  AND  THE  CEMETERY.  55 


they  know  all  that  is  involved  in  the  issue, 
they  would  act  with  even  greater  determina¬ 
tion  to  root  out  the  “heresay”  while  it  is  yet 
young.  But  their  day  is  past.  It  is  now 
too  late.  Diaz  and  his  workers  have  found 
favor  with  the  people,  and  there  is  just 
enough  law  on  their  side  to  give  them  a 
certain  foothold. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  secure  a 
place  of  burial  for  those  who  might  die  out¬ 
side  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  bishop 
owned  the  only  cemetery,  and  the  only  cem¬ 
etery  possible  without  the  permission  of  the 
authorities — all  Romanists.'  The  cost  of 
burial  in  the  Catholic  cemetery  was  about 
$28,  and  it  came  hard  on  many  poor  people 
to  pay  so  much.  The  alternative  was  burial 
in  Potter’s  Field,  in  a  part  of  the  consecrated 
ground,  but  where,  after  five  years,  the  body 
could  be  thrown  out  to  make  room  for  an¬ 
other.  Of  course,  all  shrank  from  that. 
But  for  those  who  died  Protestants  there 
was  no  hope.  What  should  be  done  with 
them?  A  cemetery  became  a  necessity. 
And  so  it  happened,  in  the  providence  of 
God,  that  a  lot  of  ground  directly  alongside 
of  the  bishop’s  cemetery  was  within  reach, 


56  THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 

and  it  was  bought.  When  the  matter  be¬ 
came  known  to  the  authorities,  no  objection 
could  be  made;  for  the  ground  was  just  as 
suitable  as  the  regular  cemetery,  and  so  they 
had  to  confirm  it  and  allow  it  to  be  used  for' 
cemetery  purposes.  The  first  bod}r  placed 
in  that  ground  was  that  of  an  old  man  who 
had  been  buried  outside,  but  was  disinterred 
and  reburied.  The  second  was  the  infant 
child  of  Diaz,  which  died  and  was  left  l}y 
him  unburied,  when  he  was  obliged  to  take 
the  steamer  in  order  to  reach  a  meeting  of 
the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  at  Louis¬ 
ville,  Ky.,  in  1887.  Now  there  are  seven 
thousand  bodies  reposing  in  that  cemetery. 
But  the  Bishop  was  not  to  be  baffled  by  such 
a  strategem  on  the  part  of  the  heretic.  He 
owned  the  ground  on  the  hither  side  of  the 
cemeteries,  and  between  it  and  his  cemetery 
ran  the  road  which  was  used  for  both,  the 
entrance  to  his  being  by  a  gate  in  the  center 
of  the  hither  side,  past  which  the  heretics 
had  to  go  to  get  to  theirs.  So  the  bishop 
was  seized  of  a  bright  thought.  He 
would  close  up  that  gate  and  open  another 
on  the  side  farthest  from  the  Protestant 

* 

ground;  then  he  would  build  a  fence  enclos- 


I 


HERRERA.  GODINEZ.  DIAZ. 


IN  PRISON  FOR  PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL 

See  page  61. 


EXCOMMUNICATED. 


57 


ing  all  that  he  claimed  as  his,  and  thus  he 
would  shut  the  heretics  out  of  theirs.  This 
he  did.  But  he  did  not  take  account  of  ail 
old  road  which  had  been  abandoned,  but 
which,  though  in  a  very  bad  condition  and 
hardly  capable  of  being  made  passable,  was 
yet  a  public  highway,  and  could  he  used  by 
the  Protestants,  taking  them  directly  to  their 
ground.  By  this  road  they  now  get  there, 
but  they  are  pretty  well  persuaded  that  the 
lawyers  are  right  who  tell  them  that  the 
bishop  has  no  right  to  close  that  road,  and 
that  he  can  yet  be  compelled  to  open  it. 
Besides,  it  is  held  that,  had  our  Consul  Gen¬ 
eral  been  the  man  he  ought  to  have  been,  he 
could  have  compelled  the  opening  of  that 
road. 

EXCOMMUNICATED. 

% 

While  Diaz  was  absent,  on  one  of  his  visits 
to  the  United  States,  the  bishop  excom¬ 
municated  him,  and  had  the  fact  duly  ad¬ 
vertised.  To  Martin  Luther  excommunica¬ 
tion  was  no  light  matter,  and  to  his  friends 
it  was  a  terrible  blow.  To  a  Catholic  it  is 
the  most  terrible  thing  that  can  befall  a 
mortal.  But  it  did  not  move  Diaz.  He 


58 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


wrote  the  bishop  a  letter,  defying  his  author¬ 
ity,  and  proposing  a  public  discussion  in 
Havana,  when  the  people  could  judge  for 
themselves  who  was  the  heretic.  Of  course, 
the  bishop  could  not  accept  the  challenge, 
though  the  people  thought  that  he  ought  to. 

Diaz  took  advantage  of  the  public  sentiment 
and  gave  notice,  in  his  own  congregation, 
that  he  would  discuss  the  questions  at  issue 
between  himself  and  the  bishop.  The  an¬ 
nouncement  needed  no  newspaper  advertis¬ 
ing.  It  soon  got  noised  abroad,  and  the 
great  Church  was  filled.  Then  the  “heretic” 
took  up  the  points  and  handled  them  as  the 
grace  of  God  and  the  Bible  had  taught  him. 
When  he  would  rehearse  the  Scripture  bear¬ 
ing  upon  the  subject,  he  would  wind  up  with 
the  question  :  “Now,  who  is  the  heretic?  I, 
or  the  bishop  ?  ”  Then  the  hall  would  ring 
with  applause  which  meant,  The  bishop  is 
the  heretic.  And  thus  a  triumph  was  gained. 

HELPFUL  FRIENDS. 

Spanish  law,  with  regard  to  religious  meet¬ 
ings,  is  peculiar,  and,  under  the  inspiration 
of  the  priests,  it  is  quite  likely  to  be  en¬ 
forced.  Diaz  not  only  knew  the  law,  but  he 

4 

* 


HELPFUL  FRIENDS. 


59 


had  a  good  friend  in  Signor  Charm  at,  to 
help  him  in  an  emergency.  The  law  requires 
that  one  who  would  hold  a  religious  service 
outside  of  the  Church  shall  give  notice  in 
writing  as  to  the  time  and  place  of  such 
assembly.  On  one  occasion,  in  June,  1890, 
Diaz  and  two  of  his  helpers,  Godinez  and 
Herrera,  and  a  large  number  of  his  congre¬ 
gation,  went  out  to  the  little  city,  Guana- 
bacoa,  the  birth  place  of  Diaz,  where  they 
had  been  accustomed  to  hold  meetings  for 
six  months,  Bro.  Herrera  being  the  pastor 
in  charge.  Before  the  close  of  the  meeting 
the  three  men  were  arrested  and  taken  be¬ 
fore  the  mayor  of  the  city,  who  claimed  that 
no  notice  of  the  meeting  had  been  given, 
and  ordered  them  locked  up  in  the  common 
jail.  They  went  quietly,  but  were  followed  by 
a  great  throng  of  people,  all  greatly  excited 
and  indignant  over  the  treatment  of  the 
preachers.  Infuriated  and  ready  to  mob  the 
officers  in  charge,  they  surrounded  the 
prison,  and  Diaz  was  compelled  to  appear  on 
the  balcony  and  dissuade  them  from  attempt¬ 
ing  his  rescue.  Nineteen  hours  after,  the 
original  notice  wras  found  in  the  office  of  the 
mayor,  and  in  order  to  shield  himself  an<jl 


60 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


his  officers  for  the  outrage  upon  the  prison¬ 
ers,  be  claimed  that  there  was  a  word  omit¬ 
ted  in  the  notice,  the  name  of  the  person 
who  was  to  conduct  the  service  ;  and  that, 
though  the  name  of  Herrera  was  signed  to  it. 
But  the  men  remained  in  prison  for  two  days 
and  a  half. 

Diaz  is  an  American  citizen,  and,  of 
course  the  outrage  gave  him  a  claim  for  pro¬ 
tection  by  our  government.  His  imprison¬ 
ment  was  immediately  telegraphed  to  Dr. 
Tichenor,  and  as  speedily  to  Mr.  Blaine, 
then  Secretary  of  State.  Mr.  Blaine  acted 
promptly  and  demanded  the  release  of  Diaz, 
and  an  accounting  for  his  imprisonment. 
But  our  Consul  General  trifled  with  the  mat¬ 
ter,  and  brought  down  upon  him  the  indig¬ 
nation  of  the  friends  of  Diaz  and  of  liberty, 
both  in  Cuba  and  in  the  United  States. 
When  Mr.  Porta,  one  of  Diaz’s  helpers,  went 
to  Mr.  Williams  about  it,  he  said,  petulantly: 
“  These  Baptists  are  always  making  me 
trouble,”  and  he  did  not  hurry  to  help  them. 
Mr.  Williams  is  an  old  man,  and  his  services 
in  Havana  will  doubtless  terminate  soon. 
We  have  already  intimated  the  point  upon 
which,  as  he  said  to  the  writer,  he  “did  not 


NEED  OF  SCHOOLS. 


61 


agree  with  Mr.  Diaz.”  The  picture  pre¬ 
sented  herewith  shows  Diaz  and  the  two 
brethren  in  prison,  a  photograph  haying 
been  taken  while  they  were  there.  They 
had  never  been  so  popular  in  Cuba  as  they 
were  when  they  came  out  of  that  prison. 

NEED  OF  SCHOOLS. 

His  sisters,  Minnie  and  Clotilde,  had 
been  his  helpers  from  the  first,  and  a  year 
or  two  later  the  latter  came  over  to  Georgia 
and  spent  some  time  in  a  Baptist  school,  the 
better  fitting  herself  for  work  df  a  high 
order.  It  has  begun  to  be  felt  that  thfe  next 
step  in  the  evangelization  of  the  island,  and 
for  holding  securely  what  has  been  already 
achieved,  is  a  high  school  for  girls.  Such  a 
school  has  been  carried  on  for  two  or  three 
years,  but  under  great  disadvantages.  Now 
the  time  seems  to  have  come  for  something 
more  permanent  and  more  attractive  to  the 
people.  There  are  in  Havana  many  families, 
not  yet  Protestant,  which  would  gladly  place 
their  daughters  under  the  care  of  these 
young  ladies,  provided  the  accommodations 
were  such  that  they  could  be  made  comfort¬ 
able.  The  customs  of  the  city  and  country 


/ 


62  THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 

do  not  admit  of  a  young  woman’s  walking 
in  the  street  unattended.  If  she  would  have 
the  advantages  of  such  a  school  as  is  con¬ 
templated,  she  must  go  to  it  and  remain 
during  the  entire  week,  unless  some  member 
of  her  family  can  attend  her  both  in  coming 
and  going.  There  are  families  of  wealth  who 
want  their  daughters  to  learn  English  and 
to  pursue  their  studies  in  English  text¬ 
books,  and  these  are  willing  to  pay  good 
prices  for  such  tuition;  but  in  order  to  secure 
these  as  pupils,  there  must  be  a  house  of 
sufficient  size,  and  with  such  appurtenances, 
that  the  young  women  can  bepome  hoarders 
and  remain  during  the  week,  or  during  the 
term. 

To  the  securement  of  such  a  home  for  a 
school,  attention  has  now  been  turned,  and 
the  place  seems  to  have  been  prepared  for  it 
by  Providence.  A  theater  building,  directly 
across  the  street  from  the  Methsemane 
church,  is  for  sale  at  a  low  figure.  A  few 
thousand  dollars  would  adapt  it.  to  the  re¬ 
quirements  of  a  school,  and  the  lot  is  so 
large  and  is  so  secluded  from  the  public 
gaze,  by  virtue  of  a  breast  wall,  an  *iron 
fence  and  shade  trees,  that  it  seems  to  have 


NEED  OF  SCHOOLS. 


63 


been  fitted  up  for  just  such  a  purpose.  The 
property  could  have  been  bought  cheap, 
when  we  were  there,  and  we  hope  to  heap 
that  it  has  been  secured. 

We  have  given  this  account  of  the  “  Apos¬ 
tle  of  Cuba”  and  the  work  going  on  there, 
in  order  that  those  who  read  it  may  become 
intelligent  witnesses  of  the  displays  of  divine 
grace  and  power  in  this  last  quarter  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Great  things  are  in 
progress  in  foreign  lands.  The  reports  com¬ 
ing  up  from  our  mission  fields  in  Europe, 
Asia  and  Africa  are  most  encouraging  and 
inspiring.  France,  in  particular,  is  just  now 
the  scene  of  wonderful  displays  of  grace,  in 
connection  with  our  Baptist  missions,  and 
something  like  what  has  been  going  on  in 
Cuba  is  going  on  in  different  parts  of  France. 
In  Toulon  a  whole  Church  has  been  admit- 
.  ted  to  baptism.  The  work  of  our  Southern 
brethren  in  Cuba  is  paralleled  only  by  what 
is  doing  among  the  missions  of  the  Mission¬ 
ary  Union  in  the  far  away  lands.  The 
fathers  have  sown,  and  we  are  reaping  the 
fruits  of  their  sowing.  The  gospel  is  win¬ 
ning  its  way,  notwithstanding  the  efforts  of 
the  infidels  and  the  half-and-half  Chris- 


THE  STORY  OF  DIAZ. 


64 

« «J 

tians(?)  to  throw  doubt  over  the  sacred  word 
and  undermine  the  faith  of  the  elect.  The 
Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth,  and  he  is 
getting  to  himself  a  name,  and  the  nations 
are  his  witnesses.  It  is  ours  to  bear  some 
humble  part  in  the  achievement  of  the 
triumph. 


y,X. 


j£v  ’ 


Date  Due 

i 

% 

% 

. 

'•  — 

Library  Bureau  Cat.  No.  1137 

BOSTON  COLLEGE 


3  9031  025  58103  4 


B  53812 

D5a$L  ^  Lasher,  George  William 

The  s to ry  of  Diaz — a  marvel  of 

modern  missions 

DATE 

- y 

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/  c «  2 

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33812 


